Conduit.



J. L. FAY.

coNnulT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.15| l9|5\ 1,235,671 Patented Aug-7,1917'.V

JOHN L. FAY, OI` ST. LOUIs, MISSOURI, AssIGNOIi or ONE-THIRD To A. c.EINSTEIN ANI) ONE-THIRD 'ro H. W. EALES, BOTH or ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.y

CONDUIT.

Application iled December 15, 1915. Serial No. 67,046.

,zen of the United States residing atv St.

Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulV Improvement inConduits, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part undue injury of this specification.

`My invention relates to conduits of the typegenerally employed forcontaining under-ground cables, the principal objects of my inventionbeing to generally improve vupon and simplify the existing types ofconduits to rwhich my invention relates; to provide a unit or sectionalconstructionV which in addition to facilitating and lessening the costof manufacture, permits the Vconduit sections to be made in such lengthsas may be practicable or desired. `f

Further objects of my invention fare to provide conduit members made upof sections of fire-proof earthen materialand all the sections of eachmember being inclosed in one or more layers of suitable moistureproofinsulating material; to provide a construction whereby the formation ofmale and female joints at the meeting ends of the oonduit vsections canbe formed without the use of special tools; and further, Ato provide aconstruction whereby-the joints between the sections of the conduitmembers and between the abutting ends of said members are comparativelysmooth, thereby maintaining the continuity of the smooth nished innersurfaces of the conduit sections, thus per-V mitting the contained cableto expand and contract under ordinary Service conditions Or be pulledthrough the lconduit without to the surfaces sheath of said-cable.

A lfurther object of my invention isto provide a comparatively simpleand inexpensive conduit having va comparatively strong .inner wall ofnon-conducting fireproof material and to inclose said inner wall withone or more layers of moisture-proof insulating material,preferablyfibrous sheets vimpregnated or `treated with a lsuitableliquid composition,l preferably hayingpreservative qualities,suchconstruction being particularly-effective yin protecting they leadsheath of the inclosedfcable' from s trayor Specification of LettersPatent.

of the lead mediate sections 10 is beveled or'coned as Patented Auw. v,i917.

claimed and illustrated inthe accompanyingk drawings,inwhich- Figure lis Va side elevational view of-a conduit member of my improvedconstruction.

Fig2 is an enlarged sectional View taken approximatelyV on the line 2-2of Fig. vl with parts broken away.'A Fig. 3 isa sectionalview takenthrough `the adjacent ends of a pair of conduit'niembers.' and showingthe ijoint between saine.v Fig. 4 is a ycross section takenapproximately Onthe line 4 -4 of Fig. 3. vFig. 5 is an elevational Viewillustrating ,the preferred arrangement of the insulatingsheathorwrappingV of the conduit. f As illustrated in .theaccompanyingdrawings, the main body of. each conduit member is made'up of a seriesof intermediate secltions` or'units 10 and-a pair of end sections binderor any similar earthen material which can be shaped while in plastic orvsemi-plastic condition and which will hardenV when thoroughly dried orburned.

In the event that the s ectionsaremade from clay or like material, theinner or rfoiitsurfaoes thereof may be glazed, if desire Y One end ofthe wall of each of the interdesignated by Y13 and the opposite end ofsaid .wall is correspondinglybeveledor coun- Ater-sunk as designated by14, and thus when the adjacent ends of a pair of intermediate .sectionsare broughtltogether a comparatively tight joint is formed and as .theend *.ofone section iscentered in the adjacent end of the other, .themeeting vedges on the interior of thestructure are maintained in cirf-cumferential Aalinementwith the result that Nthe continuity ofthesmoothginner surfaces Iof the sections is maintained. 1

The outer end 15 of the wall of the end section 11 is straight andoccupies a plane at right angles to the aXis of s'aidsection while theopposite or inner end is beveled or counter-sunk as designated by 15a ingorder to receive the corresponding coned end off the intermediatesections 10.

The outer end 16 of the wall of end section 12 is made straight anddisposed `in a plane 4at right angles to the axis oil said outer sectionand the inner end of this section is beveled or coned as designated by17 so as to fit in the corresponding counter-sunk end of one of theintermediate sections.

After a number of intermediate sections .and a pair of the end sectionshave been properly assembled to form a conduit member of the desiredlength, the entire structure is covered with one or more layers 18 ofinsulating material.. This coating or sheathing of insulation inaddition vto holding the members 10, 11 and 12 lin assembled relationserves to protect the lead sheath of the ycable which occupies the,conduit from stray or return currents of electric street railways andthe like.

'The outer coating of insulation is preterab'ly `made up of strips orsections of'brous material, such as comparatively heavy paper treated orimpregnated with asphaltum or a suitable preservative, and asillustrated in .5 one strip or section of the material is woundangularly in one direction directly on the outersurfaces of the sections10, 11 and 12 and the second layer is wound angu- Vlarly in .theopposite direction.

'The composition utilized in treating the "librous layers of materialwhich form the covering of the conduit as just described preferablyincludes a suitable adhesive and an ingredient which is insoluble whendry,

' and thus after the fibrous material has been properly applied Vandbecomes dry it etectuall'y retains its position on the inner sectionalwall of the conduit and likewise protects said inner wall againstmoisture which may be present'in the earth in which the y conduit islaid.

In applying .the outer coating of insulatv'ing material, the latter isstarted a V,short distance from thevouter end of one of the end members,thereby forming a rabbet or 'members are assembled :engages the rabbet'or shoulder 19 at the end of the adjacent member. 'Such constructionprovides male and `female joints o'r lthe meeting ends of 'fthe conduitsections and permits the adjacent 'ends of'end units or sections 11 and12 to ibutt directly againsteac'h other.

By virtue of 'my vimproved construction thejoints between the ends ofthe conduit members are made without the use of special tools and thelaying of the conduit members together in the trench is greatly ifacilitated.

Further, such construction insures perfect butt joints between the ends15 and 16 of the inner shell of the conduit and consequently thecontinu-ity Iof .the smooth inner surface of the completed conduit ispreserved.

.Conduit members constructed in accordance with my inventionare'comparatively simple, :can be easily and lcheaply manufacreOnatinO"the fibrous material utilized as the outer shell of the "conduit and thepractically Vsmooth inner surface of the inner shell permits thecontained cable to expand and contact or to *be drawn th-rough theconduit without undue injury to the Ilead sheathing of said cable.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction of the various parts of my improved device may be made andsubstituted for `those herein shownand described, without departingAfrom `the spirit of -my invention, the

"scope of which isset lor'th in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. rIhe -hereindescribed conduit member comprising a series of 'innertubular sections of fire-proof material, one end of each sec tion beingtapered and the Vother end being vcouiitersu-nlA so as to producetapered joints "between said sections when the same are assembled'foruse, and a covering of 'non-conducting material for said tubularsections, which covering maintains the tubular sections forin'ing theconduit member in assembled relation, the ends of the inner sectionalmember and said covering being offset y with respect to each other toforman internally arranged shoulder at one end of the A conduitand anexternally arranged shoulder vat the other end. l

'2. The hereindescribed conduit Vmember comprising a series of innertubular sections .of i'ireproof material the ends :of which are Vshapedso as to producejtapered joints .be-

tween the sections, and an .outer covering of moisture-proof material,the ends of the inner sectional member andcovering being o'fset withrespect to each otherto form an internally arranged shoulder at one endof the conduit 'and ank externally arranged "shoulder at theother end. Y

3. The hereindescribed conduit member comprising an inner 'tubular wallcomposed of sections of fire proof material, the ends of theintermediate sections being formed so as to produce conical jointsbetween said sections, the outer ends of the outer pair of sectionsbeing straight so as 'to produce butt joints when the conduitv membersare assembled, and a covering of insulating material upon said sections,the ends of'which insulating material are offset from the straight outerends of the outer pair of inner members so as to form inner and outershoulders which are adapted to interengage when the conduit members areassembled.

4. .The hereindescribed conduit member comprising an inner tubular wallcomposed of sections of lire-proof material, the ends of theintermediate sections being` formed so as to produce conicaljointsbetween said other end of the -covering'terminating short n' ofthe corresponding end ofthe inner tubular-wall so as to produceshouldered butt joints between the conduit members when.

the same are assembled.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aIiiX my ysignature in the presence oftwo witnesses,

this 10th day of December, 1915.

JOHN L. FAY.

V`\7Vitnesses:

M. P. SMITH, A1W. A. HANDEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. C.

